Keeping the little ones busy during the school holidays can be tricky for any parent. But it’s the perfect opportunity to nourish your child’s curiosities and take the time to explore the world around them.
Here at Ashbridge, we’ve compiled a list of exciting and enriching school holiday activity ideas that will keep your children engaged and help them connect with nature, creativity, and more. Read on to discover fun activities your children will love and be eager to share with their friends once the school holidays are over!
1. Build a Bug Hotel
Your garden is packed with vibrant minibeasts, tirelessly looking for a spot to call home. When you build your very own bug hotel, there’ll be enough vacancies for endless fascinating creatures to stop by!
Build your hotel from wooden pallets or logs, and use bricks to create sturdy corners for your five-star accommodation. Fill your hotel with a selection of pieces of wood with plenty of gaps to create nooks and crannies for visitors to explore and make themselves at home! Create a roof out of some old tiles, and look forward to checking in your first guests!
2. Camp in the Garden
Camping is a brilliant experience for little ones and is the perfect way to keep them away from those pesky screens indoors. So, show them how much fun there is to be had in the garden by setting up a tent and wheeling out that barbeque. Tell stories around your homemade campfire or log burner as your marshmallows toast in the flames and create wholesome moments that will stay with your children forever.
3. Gardening
Are your little ones seasoned pros in the soil, or are they new to the whole seedling thing? In either case, there are plenty of straightforward ways to get your children involved in gardening. Start them off with the responsibility of growing microgreens on the windowsill and gradually work them up to growing harvestable veg in your patches!
Gardening helps young ones understand the rewarding nature of patience and commitment as they watch their plants flourish over time.
4. Visit Nature Preserves
One of our favourite school holiday activities to recommend is visiting nature preserves. Combining all of our favourite outdoorsy activities, visiting nature reserves allows children to have fun, destress, and learn about the wildlife around them. From birdwatching to pond-dipping, there is endless fun to be had when visiting a nature preserve!
5. Scavenger Hunts
Whether you’re at a nature preserve, in your garden or even the local park, a scavenger hunt is a brilliant way to keep the little ones entertained! Teach your children to enjoy a bit of friendly competition as they work on their observational skills, collecting some of nature’s hidden treasures along the way.
6. Build Dens
Who didn’t love building dens as a child? Be it out of blankets and pillows or logs and branches in the park; this activity has been an undisputed favourite amongst young ones for generations. Help your children round up a solid supply of materials and find the perfect tree to support your den. Prop up your twigs and branches and gather under your shelter before the rain comes!
7. Build Snowmen
Thinking of winter holiday activities can also be tricky, but just because it’s wintertime doesn’t mean there isn’t still fun to be had outdoors! We’ve got our fingers crossed for snow this year. So, when the streets are covered in white, take your little one outside and join them in creating a frosty friend! Don’t shy away from getting in your fair share of snow angels, too.
8. Go for a Picnic
Cook up some tasty treats, prepare your sandwiches, find your favourite basket, and head to your favourite green spot! Picnics are the perfect way to make an exciting event out of lunchtime – even better if you’re using some of your home-grown produce, as we suggested earlier!
Relax under the shade of stunning century-old trees, listen to the birds sing and take in the beautiful views that surround you as you bite into those flavourful BLT sandwiches. We like to take drawing supplies on our picnics and encourage little ones to draw what they see!
9. Arts and Crafts
A ‘crafternoon’ is an essential school holiday activity. The possibilities are endless when it comes to crafting. Are your little ones more the painting type? Or are they keen to pull out the hot glue gun? Whatever you prefer, there are plenty of outdoor arts and crafts ideas out there.
If it’s autumn time, why not make beautiful leaf-printing displays from fallen leaves? Paint your leaves in different colours and print them onto your canvas to create uniquely vibrant patterns and give new life to the dead leaves. This is a simple activity for all ages and promises stunning results by the time you’re all finished!
10. School Holiday Activities for Working Parents Around Preston
As working parents ourselves at Ashbridge, we understand that not everyone is able to stay at home with their children over the school holidays. Holiday care facilities such as our offering at Ashbridge Independent School provide a fun and nurturing option for busy parents or those looking to provide additional enrichment opportunities for their children over the school holidays.
Attend Ashbridge’s School Holiday Care
Offer your child the chance to enjoy a truly unique school holiday spent at Ashbridge Independent School’s holiday care. Available to all children of primary school age (including non-Ashbridge pupils), our holiday care is a convenient solution for those looking for social opportunities as well as local working families keen to ensure your children enjoy their school holidays while you’re at work.
While attending, children will have access to their choice of delicious snacks throughout the day, as well as the tasty school lunch menu, of course. Children are also encouraged to enjoy our selection of school facilities and outdoor learning environments in whatever way best suits them.
With woodland areas, outdoor cooking areas, Forest School activities, and so much more, we have no doubts that any child would have a fulfilling, one-of-a-kind experience at Ashbridge!
Book an Ashbridge Independent School Tour
Do you love the sound of our school holiday activities? Well, they are very much representative of the Ashbridge ethos. We’re passionate about connecting young minds with the outside world and offering a holistic approach to teaching that is both engaging and interest-led.
If you have any further questions on school holiday ideas, don’t hesitate to contact us or book an Ashbridge tour for an even clearer idea of how committed we are to delivering a first-class education to our students.
